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Monetization Plan

Recommended product monetization_plan
Agent Prompt Snippet
Ensure the project has a monetization plan covering revenue models, pricing strategy, virtual economy design, and ethical monetization guidelines.

Purpose

A monetization plan outlines revenue models, pricing tiers, virtual economy design, and ethical monetization boundaries to sustain the game financially post-launch.

This is a Recommended document — most projects benefit significantly from having one. While not strictly essential for every situation, its absence often leads to gaps in team understanding or quality.

Key Sections to Include

  • Revenue models
  • Pricing strategy
  • Virtual economy design
  • Ethical monetization guidelines

Agent hint: Ensure the project has a monetization plan covering revenue models, pricing strategy, virtual economy design, and ethical monetization guidelines.

What Makes It Good vs Bad

A strong version of this document:

  • Clearly articulates the problem being solved and for whom
  • Includes measurable success criteria and acceptance tests
  • Prioritizes features with clear rationale for ordering
  • Connects user needs to technical requirements traceably
  • Reviewed by both product and engineering stakeholders

Warning signs of a weak version:

  • Feature list without context on user problems or goals
  • No success metrics — impossible to know if the feature worked
  • Requirements so vague that multiple interpretations are valid
  • Missing edge cases or error scenarios
  • Written in isolation without cross-functional input

Common Mistakes

  • Conflating features (solutions) with user problems (needs)
  • Defining success metrics after launch rather than before
  • Not involving engineering early enough to assess feasibility
  • Scope creep — adding requirements without re-evaluating priority and timeline

How to Use This Document

Start with the user problem, not the solution. Define who experiences the problem, how painful it is, and how you’ll know when it’s solved. Use acceptance criteria that are testable — ’the user can do X’ rather than ’the system supports X’. Prioritize ruthlessly: every feature has an opportunity cost.

For AI agents: Use product documents to understand the intent behind features. When implementing, ensure acceptance criteria are met and edge cases from the spec are handled. Flag any requirements that seem ambiguous or contradictory.

Starter Template

SpecBase includes a ready-to-use template for this document: kb/templates/product/monetization_plan.md.tmpl. Use the SpecBase CLI or MCP integration to generate it pre-filled for your project.

# Generate stubs via CLI
specbase init <archetype> --features <features> --dir ./docs
  • Inspired: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love by Marty Cagan — Practical framework for product discovery, validation, and cross-functional collaboration.
  • Continuous Discovery Habits by Teresa Torres — Structured approach to continuous user research and opportunity mapping.
  • The Lean Product Playbook by Dan Olsen — Step-by-step process for achieving product-market fit through iterative development.

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